


To Set It Aside

by cytryne



Series: Dynamics of Control [3]
Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dom/sub Undertones, Introspection, M/M, Non-Sexual Submission, Unhealthy Relationships, it's getting healthier?, let's call this fic 2.5 in this series right
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:46:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24834811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cytryne/pseuds/cytryne
Summary: Celebrimbor had managed to come here, managed to get some small concessions from Sauron on the fate of the world. But where do they stand now?.Or, Celebrimbor considers his new relationship with Mairon instead of Annatar and what he actually wants when everything is an uncertain balancing act.Set between two fics. Must read previous in the series to understand.
Relationships: Annatar/Celebrimbor | Telperinquar, Celebrimbor | Telperinquar/Sauron | Mairon
Series: Dynamics of Control [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1764790
Comments: 5
Kudos: 35





	To Set It Aside

**Author's Note:**

> I sat down to write part 3 of this series and this introspective mess happened instead, so, let's call it part 2.5 and enjoy it while I'm writing the real next part?
> 
> Should probably mention that this might not be for you if you aren't into non-sexual submission/kink in general, but that's going to be a more and more prominent theme of this series so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Behaving with this new—old?—form of his lover was _hard_. There were lines, things he could and couldn’t do, but where were they? It was one extreme then the other, from perfect acceptance or even pleasure at what Celebrimbor was doing to sheer rage in a heartbeat, all masked by a veneer of superiority. He hadn’t been actually hurt for overstepping, even given an indication that he was starting to reach that point each time to let him backtrack first. But he didn’t know what Mairon _would_ do if he did keep pressing after being given a sign he’d gone too far, and that was almost more terrifying.

How could he hope to know? He knew what _Annatar_ would do, how _Annatar_ would react, but it had been made quite clear to him that Annatar was no more. Replaced by someone he had no hope of identifying. Maybe this was Sauron, but everything he’d heard said Sauron shouldn’t act like this. He should be cruel, and manipulative, and play games and hurt everyone the same regardless of who or what they were. 

Mairon did all that, of course, but it was different. Variable. His supporters received the whole brunt of his cruelty. They’d have to do absurd things, or were tortured for one slight issue in an otherwise perfect task, or had trouble created for them with others. Nothing that pushed too far that they left or couldn’t work, but enough for Mairon to be amused. And his enemies . . . .

Tyelpe shuddered at the thought. There hadn’t been many at this point. A few people who had gotten too curious for their own good, or considered deserting, or stolen. Yet they’d been dealt with so harshly you’d think they were his mortal enemies.

No one else had been able to just walk in and demand to be talked to, when by all rights they should have been mortal enemies at that stage. No one else had actually been _listened_ to. 

So no, he didn’t know where he stood, and Mairon’s actions towards him had only made it worse. 

He was so overtly possessive, all the time. Demanding things, taking things, making sure his attention was on him if it were on anything, punishing him like a disobedient pet whenever he did something Mairon didn’t like. Treating him as both a person and an object but not fully recognizing either. 

It wasn’t intimate, it wasn’t emotional, but how could he call it anything but? He’d spent the whole week he’d been there asleep or with Mairon. Some of it had been important. The constant fight to change his mind, to plot out a course for the future that he would both approve of and be less devastating, to start to put that plan in action around the ridiculous restrictions placed on him as Mairon demanded control. But most of it? He’d been in the forge with Mairon, taking and moving things as he was told, or sitting quietly and occasionally holding something as Mairon did paperwork he wasn’t allowed to look at but was somehow allowed to touch. He’d been tested constantly, Mairon poking and prodding at what he’d do and how he’d do it just to test if he’d _actually_ meant his desperate words. If he would actually give himself up to be whatever Mairon wanted from him in exchange for his people’s safety.

He’d spent the whole week doing things for Mairon, according to Mairon’s rules, and some part of it felt too shamefully good to ever voice aloud.

Hands in his hair, a weight pressed against the back of his neck as a thumb rubbed circles against the front absentmindedly. Kneeling to ask for something. It should have been humiliation, as Mairon rested his control over him and how far he could go. Their dynamic had never been like this when he was Annatar. It had been soft, full of genuine affection and a want to take care of each other. But _damn him_ if he didn’t want more of this. _Damn him_ if this dance wasn’t somehow satisfying when it should have been humiliating and horrible, if seeing Mairon pleased with him and actually willing to listen to his ideas because he did the right things didn’t make him want to get that look all the time. 

It was addictive, and intimate, and terrifying. Like standing above a cliff and teetering above the edge, knowing he could fall in at any moment while some growing part of him yearned to step in willingly. Tyelpe could get lost in it, if he let himself. Forget all the reasons he _had_ to change what would happen, forget that Mairon’s intentions with this were a test and barely-hidden cruelty instead of honest want, forget his own responsibilities to just simply _exist_. It terrified him.

It was good they were leaving soon. Good Mairon had finally decided on a plan, and given him a role in it. Good that soon he’d be playing a part and have a clear goal, clear actions to take to help people, instead of losing himself in this.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it!


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